Browsing: New South Wales

Senator Macartney Abbott believed that ‘if you can raise a man’s thoughts you can raise his achievement’. He argued that by raising the thoughts of all nations ‘you can raise the whole level of humanity and place the feet of the world upon that path leading to peace’. Macartney Abbott was born at Murrurundi, New South Wales, on 3 July 1877, and was the

Percy Phipps Abbott was the first Country Party candidate from New South Wales to be elected to the Senate. He served only three and a half years as a senator, but his career as a soldier, political activist and elected representative spanned five decades. Grandson of a pioneer Tasmanian, Abbott was born on 14 May 1869, the son of John William Abbott, auctioneer, and

Stanley Kerin Amour, who came to be known as ‘the honorable Senator for Bankstown’, was born on 2 April 1900 at Newcastle, New South Wales, the fourth son of Richard Joseph Amour, a signalman, and his wife Elizabeth, née Thompson. Stan was educated at Sacred Heart School, Hamilton Park, and for a time lived at Murrurundi in the Hunter Valley. He was just fifteen

Kenneth McColl Anderson was born at sea on board a German vessel, the SS Scharnhorst, causing his parents, David More Anderson and Florence, née McWhirter, returning from England, to cable their family that they were bringing home a ‘seagull’. Anderson believed his date of birth to have been 11 October 1909, but the Scharnhorst’s list of the passengers reveals that ‘Child Anderson’ was born

James Guy Dalley Arkins was born at Millthorpe, New South Wales, on 14 October 1887, the son of William James Arkins, storekeeper, and Isabella Alice Grant, née Webb. He was educated at Millthorpe Public School, then worked as a flour miller, builder, clerk and country journalist. As a young man Guy, as he was known, became an active supporter of the Labor Party in

John Ignatius Armstrong, ‘the golden barman’, was born on 10 July 1908 to Irish parents, William, and Ellen, née Hannan. His father had hailed from Tipperary and his mother from County Cork. At the time of John’s birth the Armstrong family, already numbering six children, were living in the ‘Butchers Arms’ (later the ‘Dunkirk’), the family hotel in the inner Sydney area of Pyrmont.

James Jarvist Arnold was born at Wallaroo Mines, South Australia, on 12 April 1902, the son of Robert George Arnold, a roper, and Julia Mary, née Broderick. He was educated at Christian Brothers College, Adelaide. After working on the railways, Arnold joined the fire brigade in South Australia. It was as a fireman that he found employment when he subsequently moved to Newcastle in

Christopher Thomas (later Thomas Christopher) Arthur, miner and union official, was born on 11 May 1883 at Forbes, New South Wales, the son of William John Arthur, miner, and his wife Phillipina, née King. After leaving school, Tom Arthur worked as a miner and a shearer, befriending such Labor luminaries as Jack Barnes and John McNeill, both of whom would attain high office in

William (later William Patrick) Ashley was born on 20 September 1881 at ‘Singorumba’, a property near Hay, in the Riverina, New South Wales, where his Adelaide-born father, James, worked as a station overseer. His mother, Julia Ann, née O’Connell, was born in Ireland. After attending primary school Bill Ashley worked in Hay, at a ‘cash store’, and at the Booligal Hotel for several years

Throughout his long career in both Houses of federal Parliament, Michael Baume was seldom far from controversy. Quick-witted and hard-working, with a flair for publicity, Baume was a relentless, effective and often ruthless opponent inside and outside the chambers. He was a close friend and ally of John Howard, for many years acting as his ‘numbers man’ in the Senate. Although he was amply

Peter Baume, who served for seventeen years in the Senate, was a small ‘l’ Liberal in the Deakinite tradition, representing the ameliorative and interventionist strand of the Liberal Party. Baume was sometimes at odds with his party’s public position and was prepared to cross the floor on issues of principle. He enjoyed distinguished careers in three separate areas of endeavour (medicine, politics and academia).

In 1973 when the Commonwealth Parliament amended the Electoral Act 1918 to lower the minimum voting age to eighteen, Vicki Bourne was a nineteen-year-old student. Inspired by the opportunity to vote, she looked at the environmental policies of each of the major political parties, rejecting the major parties in favour of the Australia Party. In 1977, when the Australia Party was merging with the

David Gordon Cadell Brownhill was born at the family property, Beaudesert station, near Mudgee, NSW, on 16 November 1935. He was the youngest of four children and the only son of Gordon McMillan Brownhill, grazier, and his wife Mary Wyatt, née Cadell. His early education was completed by correspondence. He then attended Cullenbone Public School and, from 1947 to 1953, Sydney Church of England

Thomas Louis Bull, grazier, was born at Wagga Wagga on 7 September 1905, the fourth of five sons of Henry James Bull, grazier, and his wife Charlotte Roberta, née Tresilian. Educated in a one-teacher school at Gobbagaula, near Narrandera, and at Wesley College, Melbourne, he became a partner in his family’s pastoral properties in the Narrandera district. In 1948 he bought Yarramundi, a 5000-acre

Cleaver Ernest Bunton’s service of less than nine months in the Senate was both a creation and a casualty of the Australian political crisis of 1975. Aged seventy-two when he entered the Senate, he told reporters, ‘I look 55 years old, feel 45 and am fit and well’. Youthful vigour, precocious achievement and an ability to rise above sectarian and partisan interests were by

John Leslie Carrick was born in Sydney on 4 September 1918, the fourth of six children of Arthur James Carrick, a clerk, and his wife, Emily Ellen Jane, née Terry. During the Depression years Arthur lost his job in the Government Printing Office. In hindsight John Carrick believed that straitened circumstances made the family more close-knit. Evicted from ‘a large rambling house’ at Woollahra,

Within two years of entering the Senate in 1981, Bruce Childs was a co-convener of the left-wing of Labor’s federal parliamentary party and the ALP throughout Australia, retaining that role throughout the period of Hawke and Keating Labor governments. Acknowledged as a unifier by his left-wing colleagues, he was recognised by senators from all sides of politics for his courteous, patient and unpretentious manner,

Robert Carrington (Bob) Cotton, accountant, timber producer and company director, was born in Broken Hill on 29 November 1915, the first of seven children of Hugh Leslie (Les) Carrington Cotton and Muriel Florence, née Pearce. Les Cotton had established a mercantile agency at Broken Hill, which included the supply of materials to the local mine. Bob Cotton was educated at Burke Ward Public School,

Having won the 1935 federal election, Lionel Thomas Courtenay died before taking his seat. Though he had not been sworn in the Senate, the fact that Courtenay lived for ten days after the commencement of his Senate term made his estate eligible for a parliamentary allowance of £24.7.11. Lionel Thomas Courtenay was born in Balmain, Sydney, on 29 May 1879, the son of Lionel

Charles Frederick Cox (‘Fighting Charlie’), who held the men of the Australian Light Horse to be above all other soldiers, was born on 2 May 1863 at Pennant Hills, Sydney, the son of Frederick Charles Cox, butcher and later orchardist, and Eliza, née Anderson. Educated at Parramatta, Cox joined the New South Wales Government Railways in 1881 as a clerk in the traffic audit

Adam Kemball Dein, schoolteacher and businessman, was born on 4 March 1889 at Lucknow, a small mining town near Bathurst, New South Wales, fourth surviving son of Adam Francis Dein, a miner of German descent, and Elizabeth Ann, née Brook. Adam Kemball was known throughout his life as Dick. His grandfather, Adam John (1831–1910), was born in Bavaria, served in the German navy, and

John Braidwood Dooley, labourer and builder, grew up in a family centred in and about the goldmining town of Braidwood in southern New South Wales, where in 1856 Joseph Dooley and Martha, née Painter, were married in St Bede’s Roman Catholic Church. Joseph had come from Ireland, though Martha was born at nearby Oranmeir in the heart of bushranging country. The second of their

Duncan’s career is understandably seen within the shadows of the more powerful men he supported, first within the trade unions of the pre-war period and then, when he followed W. M. Hughes over conscription, the Nationalist Party of the 1920s. His political role was distinctive, however, and his career, relatively long within his life, extended over thirty-three years, from his first unsuccessful contest in 1907,

James Patrick Digger Dunn, unionist and soldier, was born on 20 August 1887, probably in Kirkdale, Liverpool, England, son of Thomas, a marine officer and Margaret, née Kavanagh. All his life Dunn proudly proclaimed his Irish ancestry. His parents arranged for him to go to sea as a young man, but Dunn deserted in South Africa, later going on to Sydney and subsequently to

Patricia Irene (Irina) Dunn[1] was born on 17 March 1948 in Shanghai, China, the eldest of two children of Timothy Edward Dunn and his wife Raisa Andreevna, née Yakimenko. Irina’s mother was of Ukrainian origin while her father, who was also born in Shanghai, was of mixed Irish, Portuguese and Chinese ancestry. Timothy Dunn worked on the North China Daily News and was aligned

Joseph Francis (Joe) Fitzgerald, anti-Grouper and loyal supporter of H. V. Evatt during the Labor Split of the 1950s, was born on 5 January 1910 at Randwick, NSW, the son of Kathleen Hosey. In 1913 Kathleen married Patrick Fitzgerald, a labourer, and in 1921, Joe formally became Fitzgerald’s foster child. He was educated by the Christian Brothers and, from 1924 to 1925, at the

Albert (Jupp) Gardiner, carpenter and free trader, has the dubious distinction of holding the record for the longest speech ever made in the Federal Parliament—an all-night ‘stonewaller’ in 1918. Coincidentally, it was the youthful Albert’s resemblance to an English cricketer, one Henry Jupp, alias ‘Young Stonewall’, which led to his being dubbed ‘Jupp’ . Both Henry Jupp and his Australian namesake were broad-shouldered men

Henry Chester-Master Garling, who in losing an election lost also the prospect of a new hat, was born in Camden, New South Wales on 7 June 1870, to Clarence William Henry Garling, a bank manager, and Mary Catherine, née Gardiner, of Lake George. Educated to secondary school level, Garling worked for Henry Bull & Co. and for the insurance firms of Michael Metcalfe and

The Commonwealth Parliamentary handbook’sphotograph of Senator Gibbs shows a dapper figure, replete with Homburg. Gibbs was selected by the New South Wales Parliament to fill the Senate casual vacancy created by the sudden death of John Power, who had been selected after the death of Allan McDougall. Gibbs’ tenure covered less than eight months—from 1 April to 13 November 1925. His departure was marked

Arthur Gietzelt was a senator for New South Wales from 1971 until his resignation on 27 February 1989. He was a member of the left faction of the Australian Labor Party with a reputation as a ‘legendary numbers man’ because of his success at organising votes within the New South Wales state branch and the federal parliamentary party. Arthur Thomas Gietzelt was born on

In 1936, the then Leader of the Opposition, John Curtin, speaking of Sir Albert Gould, said: ‘I doubt sometimes that the people of Australia to-day really appreciate the importance that belonged to the establishment of the Commonwealth, and the great privilege enjoyed by those who . . . by their public service, sufficiently earned the confidence of the people to justify their return at

Described as ‘one of the men who gave fire and colour to the Labor tradition’, Donald MacLennan Grant was born at Inverness, Scotland, on 26 February 1888, son of Donald Grant, an insurance agent, and his wife Mary, née McLennan.[1] He was educated in Inverness, left school at twelve and was later apprenticed as a dental mechanic. Grant became involved in socialist politics at

Described by a Senate colleague as ‘the most ardent high priest of land values taxation that this country possesses’, John Grant, stonemason and labour activist, was born in 1857 in Abernethy, Scotland, to crofter parents, Gregor and Margaret. After completing his apprenticeship as a stonemason in Glasgow, he migrated to Australia, probably in 1880. Soon prominent in the Stonemasons’ Union in Sydney, he was

John Proctor Gray, businessman and federationist, was born in Stonegate, Yorkshire, England, on 1 December 1840, the son of Henry Gray, a joiner and cabinet-maker, and Mary, née Proctor. On 25 April 1865, he married Elizabeth, née Durning, at Christ Church, Southport, England; they had three daughters and three sons. Gray managed several branches of Lever Brothers in England, and in 1888 emigrated to

Charles Hardy entered the Senate in 1932 as the youthful firebrand of the Riverina, leading a separatist movement that challenged the Country Party especially. His gradual incorporation within the Country Party across his single term was built on accommodations in policy that were acceptable to him and he was rewarded with the leadership of his party from 1935 to 1938. But the circumstances that

John Thomas (Jack) Kane, militant anti-communist and founder of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP), was born on 23 July 1908 in the small town of Burraga in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. He was the son of Cornelius Kane, an engine-driver, born in Melbourne, and Kate, née Williams. In 1911 the family moved to Lithgow. Jack attended St Patrick’s School, leaving at

Milivoj Emil (Misha) Lajovic was the first non-British post-second world war migrant to become a member of the Senate, and he was also the first federal parliamentarian of Slovenian origin.[1] Misha Lajovic was born at Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 23 July 1921. At the time of his birth Slovenia was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which came into existence in 1918

‘Like myself’, Senator Large, who was just over five feet, once remarked: ‘my contribution to this debate will be very brief’. What was even more worthy of remark was the manner of his being elected to the Senate in the first place. William James Large was born at Northfleet, in the County of Kent, on 28 March 1878, son of Sophia Large, née Lancaster,

Born on 29 December 1952 in the working class suburb of Carlton in southern Sydney, Stephen Loosley was the son of clothing worker Bernard Alan Loosley and his wife Jean Elizabeth, née Pike. The eldest of three children, Stephen was educated at Carlton Public School before winning a place at the selective Sydney Technical High School in 1965. Between 1972 and 1975 he undertook

Described affectionately as ‘the children’s friend’, Sir Charles Kinnaird Mackellar was a practical philanthropist whose life work involved the care of the ‘helpless, homeless and friendless’. A physician, businessman and social reformer, Mackellar was born in Sydney on 5 December 1844, the son of Frederick Mackellar, a distinguished medical practitioner, and Isabella McGarvie, née Robertson. After completing his education at Sydney Grammar School, Mackellar

Colin Victor James Mason was elected as a senator for New South Wales in the 1977 federal election. Don Chipp was elected as a senator for Victoria in the same election. As the first Australian Democrats elected to the Senate, they signalled the arrival of a new centrist parliamentary party that would go on to become a highly influential minor party in federal politics.

Walter Massy-Greene’s name did not officially include a hyphen until March 1933. Prior to that date, anyone searching for him in Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates will find him under the name of ‘Greene’. He was born on 6 November 1874 at Grove Lane, Camberwell, Surrey, England, the second son of Julia Eamer, née Sandeman, and John Greene, who variously described himself as a brewer and

John McCallum was that relatively rare phenomenon, a scholar in Parliament. Intellectual, teacher, broadcaster and senator, he lived a turbulent private and public life. Born in Mittagong on 31 July 1892, John was the eldest surviving child of Catherine Margaret, née Protheroe (born in Brecon, Wales, in 1865), and Archibald Duncan McCallum (born on 26 January 1857 in Glasgow). The McCallum family, who arrived

Douglas McClelland was born on 5 August 1926, in Wentworthville, NSW, the son of Alfred McClelland, union organiser and farmer, and his wife Gertrude Amy, née Cooksley. Alfred was a NSW Labor MLA for the seats of Northern Tablelands (1920–27) and Dubbo (1930–32). Douglas was educated at Wentworthville Public School, Parramatta High School and the Metropolitan Business College, Parramatta. After leaving school he worked

James Robert (Jim) McClelland was born on 3 June 1915 in Melbourne, the son of Robert William McClelland, painter, paperhanger and signwriter, who was of Ulster Protestant background, and Florence Ruby, née O’Connor, a Catholic. James’ early childhood was spent at Glen Iris, Melbourne, but in 1925 his father, who worked for the Victorian Railways, was transferred to Ballarat, where the family lived for

Allan McDougall, boilermaker, was born at Pyrmont, New South Wales, on 2 August 1857, son of Allan McDougall and his wife Catherine, née Keith. Educated to primary school level, he became an apprentice at the Australian Steam Navigation Company, where his father was foreman boilermaker. Later, the young McDougall moved to Mort’s Dock where he worked beside John Storey and other pioneers of the

Gerald Colin McKellar, known as Colin, was born on 29 May 1903 in Gulgong, New South Wales, to Gerald Murdoch McKellar and Margaret Jane, née Travis. Educated at Gilgandra Public School, Colin followed in the steps of his father and grandfather by becoming a wheat and sheep farmer. On 24 July 1926, he married a Sydney schoolteacher, Florence Emily Smith, at the Presbyterian Church,

‘Although I was not raised in poverty, I saw enough of it to understand it’ admitted Paul Alexander McLean. Born to Harold Penrose McLean and Kathleen McLean, née Collins, on 13 March 1937 in the Lake Macquarie suburb of Belmont in the Hunter region of NSW, he was raised by parents—’a coal miner and … the daughter of a tin miner’—who instilled in their

Alister Maxwell McMullin, who remains the longest serving President of the Senate, was born on 14 July 1900 at Bingeberry in the hamlet of Rouchel, near Scone, in the Hunter Valley, NSW. He was the seventh child of William George McMullin and Catherine, née McDonald, who had married in Rouchel in 1884, Catherine having lived in nearby Stewarts Brook. Educated at state schools, Alister,

As Australia’s first Minister for Repatriation, Edward Millen was a central figure in the establishment of Australia’s repatriation policies and machinery. Born in Deal, Kent, on 7 November 1860, the son of John Bullock Millen, a pilot of the Cinque Ports, and Charlotte, née Davis, he began his working life as an adjuster of marine insurance. Migrating to New South Wales around 1880, Millen

‘Bluey’ Mooney was a senator for only six months. He brought to the Senate chamber a pugnacity that reflected his earlier industrial experience and his intense loyalty to the then premier of New South Wales, J. T. Lang. His entry to the Senate on 23 December 1931 meant that the number of Lang Labor followers in the Senate rose briefly to three, the others

John Joseph Morris was born at Young Wallsend (now known as Edgeworth, a suburb of Newcastle), NSW, on 12 June 1936, the youngest of six children of Thomas Wallace Hope Morris, a boilermaker, and his wife Minnie Doreen, née Gavin. His paternal grandfather, also Thomas Morris, had served as an alderman of Fairfield Municipal Council and was described as ‘a keen follower of the

James Anthony (Tony) Mulvihill, railwayman, party official, and environmentalist, was born in North Ryde, Sydney, on 27 April 1917. He was the only child of James Bernard (Jim) Mulvihill and Agnes Ellen, née McNamara. His father, Jim, worked for most of his life at the gasworks at Mortlake, at that time a community with many Irish and English gas and railway workers. He was

Lionel Keith Murphy was the most divisive figure in the history of the Senate. His supporters saw him as inspirational: an enlightened and bold reformer whose unceasing mental and physical energy achieved much of permanent value. Opponents regarded him as dangerous, reckless and lacking in fundamental political nous. Doubts about Murphy’s judgment were also held privately by some members of his own party. Years

John Cash Neild was born in the prosperous English port city of Bristol on 4 January 1846 to a surgeon of the same name and his wife Maria, née Greenwood, the daughter of a banker. In 1853, the family migrated to New Zealand, but the resurgence of war with the Maori led them to move to Sydney in 1860. Young Neild began work with

The first Leader of the Government in the Senate, Richard EdwardO’Connor, was born at Glebe, Sydney on 4 August 1851, the son of Richard O’Connor, librarian of the New South Wales Legislative Council and later Clerk of the Parliaments, and Mary Ann, née Harnett. He attended St Mary’s College, Lyndhurst, and Sydney Grammar School before entering the University of Sydney where, in 1870, he

Charles William Oakes, jeweller, was a senator for one year and a New South Wales parliamentarian for more than twenty. He was born at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, on 30 November 1861, the son of James Richard Oakes, a storekeeper from Lancashire, and his wife, Agnes Jane, née Revelle. In 1870, the family moved to Sydney, where Charles was educated at Paddington Superior

James Patrick Ormonde, miner and journalist, was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, on 23 March 1901, the son of Jeremiah Ormonde and Bridget, née Reilly. Ormonde came to Australia with his family at an early age, and grew up in Kurri Kurri on the New South Wales northern coalfields. He was educated at Marist Brothers College, West Maitland. On leaving school, he became, like his

‘Jack’ Power, labour reformer, was a senator who never was. Only forty when chosen by the New South Wales Parliament to fill a casual vacancy caused by the death of Senator Allan McDougall in October 1924, Power died two months later, before taking his seat. Had he lived, he would have been a senator only until June 1926, since he had not been selected for

An innovative and successful businessman, Herbert Edward Pratten was born at Mangotsfield in Gloucestershire (near Bristol), England, on 7 May 1865, the son of Herbert Graham Pratten, baker, and his wife, Ann Rebecca, née Vowles. He attended the Bristol Trades and Mining School and was appointed to a clerkship in the Bristol ironworks of John Lysaght, who exported iron and steel to Australia. In

Edward Pulsford does not leap out of Hansard as one of the most exciting of senators. At first sight, the only claim one can make to establish Pulsford’s notoriety is that throughout his political career he was a staunch advocate of free trade. But by any measure, Edward Pulsford’s contribution to Australian public life was noticeable. In many ways, he aspired to the model

On 20 September 1978, Chris Puplick, then the youngest Australian senator since World War II, rose to make his first speech in the Senate, and declared that ‘There is no finer tradition in the history of mankind than the Liberal tradition’. As a believer ‘above all in the individual, in diversity, in tolerance, and in caring about my fellow creatures’, he ‘could be only

‘No Compromise’ and ‘No Surrender’ were statements which formed the basic political policy of diminutive labour militant Arthur Rae, and which encapsulate his long life of unremitting struggle on behalf of the working class. Bush worker, shearer, fanner, fruit grower, journalist, trade unionist, party official, peace activist, sometime poet and frequent politician, Rae was relentless in his avowal of socialism. Honest, forthright, combative and

Albert David Reid, a ‘long, lean, leathery’ Anzac, devoted virtually all of his adult life to public service. At municipal, state and federal government levels he was a dedicated member of the Australian Country Party. Committed to the needs of rural Australia, he made a significant contribution to the development of water conservation policy, and was a highly respected senator. He had a distinguished